Indictment also covers North Korea sanctions and Iran surveillance work
Jury selection begins Tuesday in a criminal racketeering case against Huawei Technologies in New York. The indictment charges the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker and some of its subsidiaries with stealing technology, plotting to steal U.S. trade secrets, and committing wire and bank fraud, among other crimes.
The indictment extends beyond U.S. trade-secret claims to allege that Huawei did business in North Korea despite U.S. sanctions there. Prosecutors also charge that Huawei installed surveillance equipment that helped Iran spy on protesters during 2009 anti-government demonstrations in Iran.
Huawei’s lawyers have tried to get the broad criminal case dismissed. In court filings, they argue that the U.S. allegations were too vague, that some were “impermissibly extraterritorial,” and that the charges did not involve domestic wire and bank fraud.
Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of gear for wireless telecom networks. U.S. carriers are barred from buying the company’s equipment over concerns it poses a security risk, and other Western allies including Canada and Britain have also blacklisted the firm.